Media

BBC News Crew Gets Starstruck During Chance Encounter With Bidens At Pub

UK Prime Minister Meets With US President Ahead Of The G7 Summit

(Toby Melville-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Bradley Devlin General Assignment & Analysis Reporter
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A video of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden showed the pair taking over a table that was occupied by BBC news staff at a pub.

BBC North America editor Jon Sopel tweeted that he was on Treganna Castle’s patio Thursday when the Biden’s arrived at the pub. “A first in my career. @POTUS comes and sits down at table in a bar next to me and orders a drink. Am trying to act nonchalant,” Sopel tweeted. Attached to the tweet was a video of Sopel saying, “How’s it going, Mr. President? Are you enjoying it here?” at Biden.

In a video later posted by Morgan Gisholt Minard, a producer for the BBC, Minard is seen gathering her belongings in order to leave the table under the tent to the Bidens as the President stands behind a chair waiting for her to leave. “I’m with the BBC,” Minard is heard saying in the video. “Good to meet you,” she told the president.

Minard tweeted out the video with the caption “There are few instances I’d feel compelled to give up my dinner table… I suppose this is an exception.” “Welcome to Cornwall @POTUS,” her tweet also said. (RELATED: Jill Biden’s Jacket Immediately Sparks Comparisons With Melania Trump’s Jacket In 2018)

However, it seems the BBC journalists did not to take offense to the Bidens’ request for their table and relocated nearby. Sopel later claimed that the president drank a Coke while Jill Biden drank a glass of red wine.

“Not a beer or cider or pasty in sight,” Sopel added, which are popular dishes in the Cornwall area, according to the New York Post.

Reactions to the incident on social media were mixed. Some users, like the BBC crew, seemed enamored with Biden’s nature. Others mocked the BBC crew for seeming to fawn over the president.

Daily Mail Deputy Political Editor John Stevens tweeted a Biden quote taken from the video, and added “Amen” at the end.

Journalist Keith Olbermann also quote-tweeted Sopel’s video and said, “He’s always glad to see you. It’s not a schtick,” of Biden’s demeanor. The tweet featured a photo of Olbermann and Biden about to shake hands.

Nikki Schwab, a senior U.S. political reporter for the Daily Mail, even went so far as to compliment the president’s choice of shoes. “The sneakers are a nice touch,” Schwab said in a quote tweet of Sopel’s video.

Author and comedian Pat Condell, on the other hand, mocked the BBC journalists. “Fake journalist is impressed by a fake president. Of course he is,” Condell tweeted.

GOP Spokesperson Paris Dennard took a swipe at Biden over the ordeal and tweeted, “Looks like the White House is keeping a really really light schedule for Biden. They have time to go for long walks and sit outdoors at local bars. I would have thought he would be slammed with meetings with Prime Ministers, Presidents, CEOs, military leaders…”

Biden is currently on his first foreign trip as president of the United States. His stop in the United Kingdom is to not only make acquaintance with the U.K’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but also to meet with other G7 leaders.